Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the patients
| Overall | Group 1 (true AFL) | Group 2 (AFL>AF) | Group 3 (AF>AFL) | Group 4 (class Ic AFL) | p Value | |
| Number | 196 | 84 | 49 | 19 | 44 | |
| Men/women | 160/36 | 69/15 | 40/9 | 14/5 | 37/7 | NS |
| Age (years) | 57 (12) | 58 (12) | 58 (12) | 51 (11) | 57 (10) | NS |
| Left atrial diameter (cm) | 4.0 (0.6) | 4.1 (0.8) | 3.9 (0.5) | 4.0 (0.5) | 4.1 (0.6) | NS |
| Ejection fraction (%) | 65 (12) | 65 (11) | 66 (13) | 62 (11) | 65 (12) | NS |
| Structural heart disease | 101 (51%) | 49 (47%) | 27 (55%) | 9 (47%) | 20 (45%) | NS |
| Hypertension | 34 (17%) | 13 (15%) | 7 (14%) | 3 (16%) | 11 (25%) | NS |
| Ischaemic | 30 (15%) | 16 (19%) | 8 (16%) | 4 (21%) | 2 (5%) | NS |
| Valvar | 19 (9%) | 11 (13%) | 5 (10%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (7%) | NS |
| Congestive heart failure | 8 (4%) | 2 (2%) | 3 (6%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (7%) | NS |
| Congenital heart disease | 5 (3%) | 2 (2%) | 3 (6%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | NS |
| Hypertrophic obstructive CMP | 3 (2%) | 1 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (5%) | 1 (2%) | NS |
| Primary pulmonary hypertension | 1 (0.5%) | 1 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | NS |
| Cor pulmonale | 1 (0.5%) | 1 (1%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | NS |
| Duration of symptoms (years) | 4.6 (4.8) | 3.7 (3.7) | 6.3 (6.2) | 4.6 (4.8) | 4.1 (4.5) | 0.02 |
| Number of antiarrhythmic drugs | 2.8 (1.5) | 2.5 (1.4) | 3.0 (1.5) | 3.7 (2.1) | 2.9 (2.1) | 0.01 |
| History of electrical cardioversion | 108 (55%) | 50 (60%) | 22 (45%) | 9 (47%) | 27 (61%) | NS |
AF, atrial fibrillation; AFL, atrial flutter; CMP, cardiomyopathy; NS, not significant.